(Image source from: theguwahatitimes.info)
Indian Railways has made it mandatory for passengers to use face masks in the station premises and also during the journey.
The Indian Railways will be running 80 special trains in addition to the existing special trains that have been running from May.
Passengers who will board these trains must reach the station at least 90 minutes prior to their journey to undergo the thermal screening.
This announcement has been made by the Indian Railways on its official twitter handle. These trains will be the fully reserved ones and the tickets for these trains can be booked from September 10.
Indian Railways to run additional 40 pairs of more special trains w.e.f. 12th September 2020.
— Ministry of Railways (@RailMinIndia) September 6, 2020
These will be fully reserved train. Ticket can be booked from 10th September, 2020https://t.co/nurgBZYvJd pic.twitter.com/TtQKJyKAdQ
Check the above table for the list of trains to be run on different routes.
According to the press information bureau, these special trains will be added to the existing 30 special trains of Rajdhani type and 200 special mail express trains that are already operating.
The Indian Railways has been operating these special trains after the regular services were suspended in March due to the coronavirus disease and the subsequent nationwide lockdown.
Passengers can book the tickets for these special trains through the official website as well as the mobile app of the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) or even from the reservation counter at the railway stations.
Railways has made it compulsory for the passengers traveling in these trains to cover their mouth and nose with the face coverings in the station premises as well as during the journey to contain the spread of COVID-19.
Passengers will have to reach the station at least one and a half-hour before the departure of the train and undergo mandatory thermal screening and other safety checks.
Only those who do not show any COVID-19 symptoms will be allowed to board these special trains.
The 80 new trains are being introduced to help the migrant workers who are traveling back to their places for work as the government has started the unlocks in a phased manner and has resumed several transportation services.
India has entered Unlock 4.0 in September. Several migrant workers have returned to their villages during the lockdown period as everything was shut in the cities.
Recently, the Indian Railways has also introduced a clone train scheme in which a duplicate train will be assigned in addition to the original train to help ferry the waitlisted passengers.
The clone trains will have the same train number as the original train to avoid confusion. The berth number and the ticket details will be informed four hours before the departure.
By Gayatri Yellayi
